g1smd - 7:35 pm on Jun 2, 2008 (gmt 0)

Back in 2006 I showed that Google used approx. 43 Class C blocks for their search operations and postulated that this corresponded with 43 datacentres (or at least 43 "server rooms") active.

So, about 43, then 41 (when some fell out of use), then 47 (when new ones were discovered) Class C blocks were in use in mid-late 2006.

Since the 2006 lists were produced, 11 more have fallen out of use, and 34 new blocks have come online.

Going back a little further; in the last two years they have therefore closed about 11 of the older server farms (mostly in the older 66.102.nnn.nnn and 216.239.nnn.nnn Class C blocks). They have also opened 28 more in the 209.85.nnn.nnn range, and 10 more in the 74.125.nnn.nnn range, at the same time.

There are currently 70 Class C blocks in use, and the current system of allocation allows for a maximum of 288 such blocks to be brought in to use at full capacity.

When you take into account the individual GFE names like gfe-ro and gfe-pn3 there are approx. 204 of those active at present. Their current system allows for 1152 of those to be allocated, at a maximum of four per Class C block. Some blocks use less, but most new blocks seem to come online with four GFE names resolving these days. However, their naming convention has room for 2704 GFE entries, so there is plenty of room for expansion.

Although not a directly useful measure, the number of individual directly accessible IP addresses in use is already in excess of 1400.

The number of servers at Google appears to have almost doubled in the last two-and-a-bit years alone.